Geography of the Worlds Sinkholes

A sinkhole is a natural hole that forms in the Earths surface as a result of the chemical weathering of carbonate rocks like limestone, as well as salt beds or rocks that can be severely weathered as water runs through them. The type of landscape made up of these rocks is known as karst topography and is dominated by sinkholes, internal drainage, and caves. Sinkholes vary in size but can range anywhere from 3.3 to 980 feet (1 to 300 meters) in diameter and depth. They can also form gradually over time or suddenly without warning. Sinkholes can be found all over the world and recently large ones have opened in Guatemala, Florida, and China. Depending on location, sinkholes are sometimes also called sinks, shake holes, swallow holes, swallets, dolines, or cenotes.   Natural Sinkhole Formation The main causes of sinkholes are weathering and erosion. This happens through the gradual dissolve and removal of water absorbing rock like limestone as percolating water from the Earths surface moves through it. As the rock is removed, caves and open spaces develop underground. Once these open spaces become too large to support the weight of the land above them, the surface soil collapses, creating a sinkhole. Typically, naturally occurring sinkholes are most common in limestone rock and salt beds that are easily dissolved by moving water. Sinkholes are also not normally visible from the surface as the processes that cause them are underground but sometimes, however, extremely large sinkholes have been known to have streams or rivers flowing through them.   Human Induced Sinkholes In addition to natural erosion processes on karst landscapes, sinkholes can also be caused by human activities and land-use practices. Groundwater pumping, for example, can weaken the structure of the Earths surface above the aquifer where the water is being pumped and cause a sinkhole to develop.   Humans can also cause sinkholes to develop by changing water drainage patterns through diversion and industrial water storage ponds. In each of these instances, the weight of the Earths surface is changed with the addition of the water. In some cases, the supporting material under the new storage pond, for example, may collapse and create a sinkhole. Broken underground sewer and water pipes have also been known to cause sinkholes when the introduction of free-flowing  water into otherwise dry ground weakens soil stability.   Guatemala Sinkhole An extreme example of a human-induced sinkhole occurred in Guatemala in late May 2010 when a 60 foot (18 meters) wide and 300 foot (100 meters) deep hole opened in Guatemala City. It is believed that the sinkhole was caused after a sewer pipe burst after tropical storm Agatha caused a surge of water to enter the pipe. Once the sewer pipe burst, the free-flowing water carved out an underground cavity that eventually could not support the weight of the surface soil, causing it to collapse and destroy a three-story building. The Guatemala sinkhole was worsened because Guatemala City was built on land made up of hundreds of meters of a volcanic material called pumice. The pumice in the region was easily eroded because it was recently deposited and loose- otherwise known as unconsolidated rock. When the pipe burst the excess water was easily able to erode away the pumice and weaken the structure of the ground. In this case, the sinkhole should actually be known as a piping feature because it was not caused by entirely natural forces. Geography of Sinkholes As previously mentioned, naturally occurring sinkholes mainly form in karst landscapes but they can happen anywhere with a soluble subsurface rock. In the United States, this is mainly in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania but about 35-40% of the land in the U.S. has rock beneath the surface that is easily soluble with water. The Department of Environmental Protection in Florida, for example, has a focus on sinkholes and how to educate its residents on what to do should one open up on their property. Southern Italy has also experienced numerous sinkholes, as has China, Guatemala, and Mexico. In Mexico, sinkholes are known as cenotes and they are mainly found on the Yucatan Peninsula. Over time, some of these have filled with water and look like small lakes while others are large open depressions in the land. It should also be noted that sinkholes do not occur exclusively on land. Underwater sinkholes are common around the world and formed when sea levels were lower under the same processes as those on land. When sea levels rose at the end of the last glaciation, the sinkholes became submerged. The Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize is an example of an underwater sinkhole.   Human Uses of Sinkholes Despite their destructive nature in human-developed areas, people have developed a number of uses for sinkholes. For example, for centuries these depressions have been used as disposal sites for waste. The Maya also used the cenotes on the Yucatan Peninsula as sacrificial sites and storage areas. In addition, tourism and cave diving is popular in many of the worlds largest sinkholes. References Than, Ker. (3 June 2010). Guatemala Sinkhole Created by Humans, Not Nature. National Geographic News. Retrieved from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/06/100603-science-guatemala-sinkhole-2010-humans-caused/ United States Geological Survey. (29 March 2010). Sinkholes, from USGS Water Science for Schools. Retrieved from: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/sinkholes.html Wikipedia. (26 July 2010). Sinkhole - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole

The Eight Stages Of Psychosocial Development - 1319 Words

The eight stages of psychosocial development have a significant impact on the individual s gding to Erikson each stage is marked by conflict which if successfully addressed and overcome have a positive outcome. In order to be successful an individual has to resolve each crisis by achieving a healthy balance between the two opposing temperaments (Broderick Blewitt, 2010; Papalia, Olds, Feldman, 2006). Erikson indicates that a person s psychosocial development is not precise nor is it permanent. Crisis that may have been encountered early in life may once again arise later. This may explain violent offenders who have no prior violent history or offenders who are rehabilitated despite having committed heinous crimes. This implies that we shouldn t be complacent nor should we lose hope that others can change (Broderick Blewitt, 2010; Papalia, Olds, Feldman, 2006). Unforeseen events in an individual s life which require adjustment are embedded in interpersonal relationships. Insight into one s own behavior is necessary in order to adjust and adapt to social environmental changes. Interpersonal relationships define an individual s personality style. Consequently, human emotional and physical development relies on the interaction between the individual and their broader social environment (Baldwin, 1992). Individuals are biologically predisposed to attend to the broader social environment with a singular personality style. Research indicates that variations inShow MoreRelatedThe Eight Stages Of Psychosocial Development814 Words   |  4 PagesTheory Selection Rational Understanding the eight stages of psychosocial development in a practical sense is vital to building a healthy student teacher relationship. I selected this theory to gain an understanding of how to effectively interact with my future students. This theory refines my ability to identify and gage my student’s unique psychological developmental progress. 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Swot Analysis Student Payment Method

OBJECTIVE The aim of the SWOT analysis is to have a deep insight into the modification of the payment system by addition of an extra functionality which may be called a Reverse ATM which accepts direct cash from the students and is available at various location within the campus. Distant learning students may also take advantage of quick and efficient payment system. This analysis will highlight the strengths of the University and the payment system also having an analysis of the weakness which might be a drawback in the lifetime of the system. The external opportunities would be harnessed for the benefit of the system and the threats should be taken care of (Helms, 2010). SWOT Template Organization:Charles Strut UniversityDate: DD/MM/YYY Description ofcurrent/newICT service The current ICT service regarding Student payment method of Charles Strut University incorporates various modes of payment. The students can pay via internet banking using Master or Visa cards. Students can also transfer the money via the service of BPAY which is exclusively for Australia. These might be one of the safest methods for payment transfer. However, payment can also be made in person or by mail at different locations at campus. These methods may be vulnerable or time consuming for payment and may call for several breaches or threats. Description of the modification/change/update in the current ICT service: The update and modification visioned for this student payment method it to install machines in replacement of in person or mail payment mode. The in person payment mode requires trained staff and personnel and is time consuming too. Also, the mode of mail is not reliably safe and might be illegal for transfer of some sensitive information either by will or by mistake. The new machines installed would act as a reverse ATM for intake of money and immediate transaction. This service would be installed at various places within the campus and would accept cash payment which is safest mode.If any student wishes to pay via money order or cheque the, a trained machine operator would do the required conversions making the use of the machine and the transfer mode for timely and effective payment to the University. The clause of not sending payment via cash will be removed by this method. STRENGTHS Innovative solutions for synchronizing organizations capabilities with the mushrooming advancements in technology. Ease of use and timely efficient payment leads to student satisfaction and retention. The competency and skills of IT department making execution simpler. Attractive feature for users and learning aspirants by full resource exploitation. A strong University image and a strong IT department.m WEAKNESSES Possibility of problem for distant learning students. Management of initial setup and innovation cost Discrepancies may lead to fall in competitive Implementation time OPPORTUNITIES Scope for research and development. Development of innovative mobile solutions for payment Increased student enrollment with ease of access Incoming opportunities for expansion and technological advancement. An edge over other modes of payment and a competitive advantage. THREATS Environmental protection standard and sustainability The changing market demands and dynamic scenario New regulations or law policies pertaining to payment to Universities Security and privacy breaches Response from students or users in the course of time. Summary and Recommendations: The SWOT analysis focuses over this innovative solution of reverse engineering called reverse ATM to input the payment into the machine for an instant validation and update into the University records. This technology is competent with the emerging world class technologies with efficiency and timely nature of the machine. The skills for development of the IT department are strikingly wonderful and hence this idea can be effectively mapped with the blueprint and the implementation. This might enrich the position of the University and in turn call for increased number of aspirants. On the other side there are weakness for the system, that the students enrolled with distant learning may not directly use the machines but can transfer that money with other methods to use the machine. The initiation setup cost is high and the input for the machine both in the terms of management or technical are necessary. The time for implementation can also exceed which can cause problems. For this, the present system should not be curbed completely. Moreover, failure possibility can also affect the system. The external opportunities like enhancement in scope of research and further advancements in IT department can be hoped with the further development. In future there can be a scope for mobile solutions for the similar technology and some innovative applications for the payment system. This is surely a competitive advantage for the university over others. There are threats also for the system such as changes in some payment policy which may call for modifications or some security breaches which may incur into the system due to hackers etc. These machines may also prove to be hazardous for the environment and hence may be tested for sustainability. Short Term (Now) The current proposed plan is an excellent implementation in regard with the payment model and the strategic goal of easy and efficient payment strategy using direct cash payment and automation. The short term plans are to innovate, develop, implement and wait for the feedback of this new system. The service proposed in by far advantageous but a deep insight over the threats and weakness is equally essential. Mid Term (next 12 months) The strengths of the Institute lies in a strong and intellectual IT department and a brand name for the University. These strengths may be exploited to open up further doors for external opportunities like tie-ups or mergers with other nearby Universities and making up a campus or hub of IT intellectuals to innovate something special for use or modify the existing technologies for the benefit of all. However, in next 12 months focus should be set over further development and refinement of this service and experimentation in other areas too. Long Term (next 3 to 5 years) For a long term accomplishment of the modification of the payment system, the new changes need to be sustained and maintained. Any technological modification should be incorporated. The machine can be made totally independent in its function. The staff of the campus would be familiar with the functioning and may handle any kind of query regarding that. With an expectation of enhancement in number of students and as a result number of users for the machine, the machine should remain consistent with the multi-user approach and real time transaction.

Thick Evaluation in Decision Making †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Thick Evaluation in Decision Making. Answer: Introduction In the given case, a research report has to be prepared on the commercial banking technologies that have emerged off late and have become immensely important. The same has been discussed in the below report where is shows that the technologies have not only helped in increasing the net interest margins and other incomes of the financial institutions but also resulted in improving the profitability and productivity as a whole(Alexander, 2016). The issue to be discussed here is whether the technological improvements being taken in a positive way and how it has impacted the US and Australian financial institutions in particular. Given the topic, the discussion has also been done with respect to operating performance, inherent risks and difficulties in introducing any financial innovation, how it results in economies of scale and its impact on risks of fraud and crime(Belton, 2017). The recent technology changes have impacted not only the retail banking market but also the commercial banking, be it cash management services or working capital management. Corporates have recognised that they are losing interest due to idle cash and thus now they find the need to know the working capital and cash balance on real time basis. FIIs are investing big time in technological investments to help corporates improve the efficiency of the business(Chaudron, 2018). Banks and financial institutions are in the process of overhauling the back end activities through digitization and automation of most of the jobs. They are using data analytics to bring in new services like customer and vendor financing to help the mid and small sized businesses and help growing the revenue and profitability of the bank. Some of the major innovations that have come way in the US financial institutions are Block chain technology: This has emerged as one of the greatest innovation of the era removing the paper based trade finances. It is secured, transparent and gives the authorization to the approved intermediaries over the network. It also reduces the counter party default risk(Raghupathi Wu, 2018). Digitization of the back office: With the advent of innovative technologies, banks and financial institutions are trying to do away with the paper records and processing and making it all digitized so that the entire process can be streamlined. This is not improving productivity but helping in cost cutting(Davis, 2017). Automation: This has made the most news as banks are now trying to limit all the human interventions and manually driven processes in order to avoid scams and leverage the work by improving the speed and accuracy of the operations and transaction processing. Marketplace lender concept: In US, market place lenders are using various online platforms to connect the borrowers or corporates in need of funds with the lenders or investors of money which is enabling the transaction to be processed quickly and with limited risks. This also enables the bank to increase its revenue by the way of commission(Choy, 2018). Hybrid Cloud technology: The cloud data services have helped the banks and financial institutions to be agile and improve in terms of operational efficiency, faster processing of payments and receipts, easy retrieval of data and customer master, security, innovation, collaboration in ecosystem and finaly revenue and profit growth. Impact of the innovative technologies in Australian based financial institutions The Australian banks and financial institutions have been other parties who have witnessed multiple opportunities and risks with the growing technological advancements. The long term growth has been targeted which involves mitigating the cyber risk, practising regulatory recalibration under the umbrella of Australian laws, focusing on customer eccentricity and redefining the workforce. The impact has been directly in the form of growth in GDP and interest rates(Timothy, 2004). This has been sustainable and customers now are the only target of the banks in terms of offering excellent and speedy services. Some of the innovative technologies being used are: Online banking and Mobile banking: This has helped the end customer off late to get the funds anywhere at any time. This has also helped in reducing the risk of siphoning of funds. The Android marketplace has introduced multiple applications and digital wallets that help the customers to do online business as well(Goldmann, 2016). Data back up and disaster recovery: Due to the use of the cloud computing services, it has become easier for the bank to store millions of GBs of data securely which is creating a trust in the marketplace. The recovery of the data, the data back ups to the remote server, ect have become ever so fast and cheap since the advent of cloud services(Gerlach, et al., 2018). Lockbox and electronic based services: It is based on online collection of the data for payments for the corporates to reduce the unusual delays in clearing and is known as float. In this type of lockbox arrangement, the bank sets up lock boxes at the post offices for corporates which are situated in the remote areas. The bank staff then collects these cheques and deposits the same in the customer account on the same day and this activity is being done multiple times a day(Kuhn Morris, 2016). The information about the same is wired to the client. Treasury management software: The banks have been using the treasury management softwares which is much faster and accurate as compared to the manual means. As this is risky and very sensitive area and involves a lot of investments and funds, banks have installed a dedicated system to handle all the secure transactions. This is helped in enabling ease of business services(Linden Freeman, 2017). Installation of ERP products and keeping it up to date: The ERP systems have brought about a great deal of changes in the banking products and it helps in consolidation of the data and thereby reporting of the profitability. This financial innovation has helped the banks to derive economies of scale and reduce the cost incurred(Marques, 2018). Ethical issues and common good analysis on the technological advancements With the rising advent in the area of technology and agility is services, there also comes ethical concerns and the risks of misusing the customer data. When the clients data and ultra sensitive information is being stored on the common server and on cloud, it also enhances the risk that the same may be unutilised or may be leaked or may be used for unwarranted things. It is the responsibility of the bank to make secure the same and protect it as the cloud technology as well as the blockchain technology are something that is guided by logic and therefore, it can erupt and cause leakage of data anytime. Besides this, there are many data which are kept or stored in the common server and the same is accessible to a number of users therefore the banks needs to be extra careful whie dealing with the same. This has also given rise to the crimes and the risks of the fraud as it was seen that the debit and credit cards were hacked through other card material and lots of funds were absconded through this. Therefore, online and mobile banking, the debit and credit cards are need to be more secured and authenticated so that the security cannot be breached easily. However, there have been more positives than the quantum of risks and uncertainities being offered by the innovations in technology. It has improved the services of the bank, the ease of service for the customer, introduction of the various new banking products and services, the agility and the speed of the services with which it is being offered. The commercial, retail as well as personal banking has been boosted with all these technological advancements and thereby increased the margins and net interest income for the banks and the financial institutions. Also, it has helped the banks to increase the customer base by reaching out to the areas where there are connectivity issues. Conclusion From the above discussion and analysis on the varied technological innovations and introductions in the banking and financial sector, it can be concluded that the same has had dual effects. While it has brought about disruptive changes in the financial world with the blockchain technology and cloud computing, it has also brought about the risks of hacking and cyber security issues. The beneficiaries of all these have been the banks who have improved on the balance sheet as well as the profit and loss statement over the years by increasing the customer base and thereby net interest margin and other net income. It has resulted in economies of scale all around the banking industry and is expected to bring further changes going forward. References Alexander, F., 2016. The Changing Face of Accountability. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(4), pp. 411-431. Belton, P., 2017. Competitive Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. London: Macat International ltd. Chaudron, R., 2018. Bank's interest rate risk and profitability in a prolonged environment of low interest rates. Journal of Banking and Finance, Volume 89, pp. 94-104. Choy, Y. K., 2018. Cost-benefit Analysis, Values, Wellbeing and Ethics: An Indigenous Worldview Analysis. Ecological Economics, p. 145. Davis, P., 2017. Value Investing: Do Quant Strategies Measure Up?. Financial Analysts Journal, pp. 1-172. Gerlach, J., Mora, N. Uysal, P., 2018. Bank funding costs in a rising interest rate environment. Journal of Banking and Finance, Volume 87, pp. 164-186. Goldmann, K., 2016. Financial Liquidity and Profitability Management in Practice of Polish Business. Financial Environment and Business Development, Volume 4, pp. 103-112. Kuhn, J. Morris, B., 2016. IT internal control weaknesses and the market value of firms. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 30(6). Linden, B. Freeman, R., 2017. Profit and Other Values: Thick Evaluation in Decision Making. Business Ethics Quarterly, 27(3), pp. 353-379. Marques, R. P. F., 2018. Continuous Assurance and the Use of Technology for Business Compliance. Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, pp. 820-830. Raghupathi, W. Wu, S., 2018. The Strategic Association Between Information and Communication Technologies and Sustainability: A Country-Level Study. IGI Global, disseminator of knowledge, p. 26. Timothy, G., 2004. Managing interest rate risk in a rising rate environment. RMA Journal, Risk Management Association (RMA), November.